Chicago mayoral election, 1927

Chicago Mayoral election, 1927
April 5, 1927

 
Nominee William Hale Thompson William Emmett Dever
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 515,716 432,678
Percentage 51.6% 43.3%
Results by ward.
Mayor before election

William Dever
Democratic

 Elected Mayor

William Hale Thompson
Republican

The 1927 Chicago mayoral election was held on April 5, 1927, on the same day as elections for City Clerk and City Treasurer. Incumbent William Dever was defeated by Republican candidate William Hale Thompson, who had previously served as Mayor from 1915 to 1923. Former Health Commissioner and Thompson ally[1] J.D. Robertson broke with Thompson to run on his own and secured 5.14% of the vote. This remains as of 2018 the last Chicago mayoral election won by a Republican, as well as the last such election not won by a Democrat.[2]

Background

The main issue of the election was Prohibition. Despite his personal opposition to the law, Dever felt that it needed to be enforced and cracked down on bootlegging in the city. While this increased his popularity nationwide it also increased violence in the city, lowering his approval in Chicago. Thompson, who had retired in 1923, took advantage of this and ran for a third term as mayor.[3]

Candidates

Democratic

Republican

Other

  • J.D. Robertson, Commissioner of Health from 1915 to 1922[4][5]
  • George Koop,[6] Socialist candidate for mayor in 1907[2][7]

Campaign

Thompson, with his promise of lax enforcement of Prohibition, received the endorsement of notorious mobster Al Capone, who donated between $100,000 and $250,000 ($1.5 to 3.6 million in 2018)[8] to his campaign.

On the other hand, Dever was endorsed by such prominent reformers as Jane Addams, who campaigned for "decency" on his behalf.[9] He was also supported by 42nd ward Democratic alderman Dorsey Crowe, whose downtown office was ransacked by such gangsters as Vincent "the Schemer" Drucci the night before the election.[10]

Robertson ran on a platform of quashing crime, promising to "find another Theodore Roosevelt" as police chief and to smash organized crime within thirty days.[11]

The election was notable for Thompson's behavior on the campaign trail, among other things criticizing and publicizing such irrelevant things to managing the city as the League of Nations and the World Court.[9]

Ultimately, despite the best efforts of Dever's supporters, Thompson won the election with the absolute majority of votes cast.[6]

Results

Democratic Primary

Results of the Democratic primary by ward.
Mayor of Chicago 1927 (Democratic Primary)[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Emmett Dever 139,654 92.23
Democratic Martin Walsh 11,771 7.77
Turnout 151,425 100.00

Dever, the incumbent mayor, faced no genuine opposition from within his party, winning all of the wards with available data with at least 80% of the vote, for a citywide figure of 92.23%.

Republican Primary

Results of the Republican primary by ward.
Mayor of Chicago 1927 (Republican Primary)[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican William Hale Thompson 335,239 67.86
Republican Edward R. Litsinger 157,121 31.81
Republican Eugene McCaffrey 1,633 0.33
Turnout 493,993 100.00

The Republican primary was somewhat more competitive than the Democratic primary. Thompson won the majority of votes in all of the wards with available data except the 49th, but won a mere 67.86% of the vote compared with Dever's 92.23%.

General Election

The percentage of votes of the primary stage that went to each party by ward. Given that the incumbent mayor was Democratic and thus the Republican contest was more controversial, higher values for Republican votes do not necessarily indicate a prominent place of the Republican party in the ward.
Mayor of Chicago 1927 (General Election)[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican William Hale Thompson 515,716 51.58
Democratic William Emmett Dever 432,678 43.28
People's Ownership Smash Crime Rings John Dill Robertson 51,347 5.14
Socialist George Koop 3 0.00
Turnout 999,744 100.00

Aftermath

The results of the election, in which the upright Dever fell to the corrupt and boisterous Thompson, damaged Chicago's reputation nationally. Reflecting on the results of the election, comedian and commentator Will Rogers is said to have remarked that "They was trying to beat Bill [Thompson] with the Better Element vote. The trouble with Chicago is that there ain't much Better Element." [3][9] In a similar vein, the St. Louis Star declared that "Chicago is still a good deal of a Wild West town, where a soapbox showman extracting white rabbits from a gentleman's plug hat still gets a better hearing than a man in a sober suit talking business."[9]

References

  1. ↑ "DR. J.D. ROBERTSON OF CHICAGO DIES; Former Health Commissioner Succumbs to Heart Disease at the Age of 60. RAN FOR MAYOR IN 1927 Broke With Thompson to Head Independents--Organized Loyola University's Medical School". The New York Times. The New York Times. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Chicago Mayors, 1837-2007". Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago History Museum. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  3. 1 2 Schmidt, John R. "William E. Dever: The mayor who cleaned up Chicago". WBEZ 91.5 Chicago. WBEZ. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  4. ↑ "Health Commissioner, Dr. John Dill Robertson, and Mayor William Hale Thompson, riding in an automobile during a parade". Explore Chicago Collections. Chicago Collections. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  5. ↑ "Housing". Google Books. National Housing Association. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Elections - City of Chicago - April 5th, 1927. The Board of Elections of Chicago (and ex officio that of the Town of Chicago Heights, the Town of Cicero and the Village of Summit). 5 April 1927. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  7. ↑ "Tries the old check game". Newspapers.com. Freeport Journal-Standard. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  8. ↑ "Inflation Calculator - Find US Dollar's Value from 1913-2018". Inflation Calculator - Find US Dollar's Value from 1913-2018. US Inflation Calculator. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Teaford, Jon C. "Cities of the Heartland:The Rise and Fall of the Industrial Midwest". Google Books. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  10. ↑ Eig, Jonathan. "Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America's Most Wanted Gangster". Google Books. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  11. ↑ Evans, Arthur. "Robertson dares razzer to face him in person". Newspapers.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
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